Pope Francis met with Iraq’s most influential Shia Muslim leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, for building bridges between Christians and Muslims.
These two leaders raised religion for the cause of peace and security of the defenseless, including Iraq’s stressed Christian minority. Saturday’s summit at Mr. Sistani’s residence in the city of Najaf was the first-ever meeting between a Catholic pope and a Shia grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Iraq.
Building relations between Christianity and Islam is a major theme of Pope Francis’s trip. Iraq is the 10th majority Muslim country he has visited as pope.
Sajad Jiyad, a Baghdad-based analyst with the Century Foundation, a think tank said “It’s historic for Shia Muslims it’s important to see one of their leaders recognized on a global stage.”
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani, commonly known as Ayatollah Sistani, is one of the most influential Iraqi Shia marja' of Iranian origins living in Iraq. He is described as the leading spiritual leader of Iraqi Shia Muslims, and one of the most senior clerics in Shia Islam
